The Ho-Ni family of self-propelled artilleries/tank destroyers were developed in the latter half of the Pacific War to provide tank regiments with fire support and engage Allied designs such as the M4 Sherman, which featured armour that Japanese tanks struggled to pierce. In War Thunder, two versions of this SPG, the Ho-Ni I and the Ho-Ni III, are available in the Japanese tech tree, and can be very powerful if used right.
| Pros | Cons |
| Agile and reasonably fast. | Little armour protection. |
| Powerful APHE shells. | Casemate tank whose gun has limited horizontal firing arcs. |
| Speed makes it ideal for a stealthy playstyle. | First variant has an exposed crew. |
Armour & Survivability:
As with most Japanese armoured vehicles, in particular those of the WW2 era, the Ho-Nis are fragile and possess little armour. This is in part due to the fact that they were built on the chassis of the Chi-Ha medium tank, which itself is poorly armoured for a vehicle of its classification. The turret and sides of both variants are protected by 25 mm of armour, but the front of the hull features different sections with values ranging from 12 to 25 mm, meaning that these SPGs. Any type of armour-piercing round can easily penetrate these tank destroyers, and even high explosive munitions and machine guns can put the first variant (Ho-Ni I) out of the fight, due to its back being open, exposing the crews to these dangers.
That being said, another major difference between the two is that the Ho-Ni I only has ammo on the vehicle’s hull, whereas the Ho-Ni III has ammo on the sides of the turret, which can result in ammo detonations if hit. It is vital to remain out of the enemy’s line of sight when playing these SPGs in order to guarantee your survival.
Mobility:
As a result of being built with hulls of the Chi-Ha, the Ho-Nis are equipped with the same engine with a humble 170 horsepower. However, it can reach speeds of up to 40 km/h forward, which is pretty fast for a tank destroyer, and around 18 km/h in reverse, further encouraging a stealthy playstyle. It can also turn on the spot quite quickly; a great advantage for a casemate tank destroyer. This mobility allows the vehicle to peek, shoot and retreat while waiting for the reload to finish.
Armament:
Both variants of the Ho-Ni feature a powerful 75 mm cannon (called Type 90 in the Ho-Ni I and Type 3 in the Ho-Ni III, the same gun used by the Chi-Nu) with a reload speed of 6.5 seconds. It has a horizontal turret traverse speed of 11.2° per second and a horizontal guidance that ranges between -11 and 11° on the Ho-Ni I and between -10 and 10° on the Ho-Ni III. The vertical traverse speed is of 2.8° per second and the vertical guidance ranges between -15 and 20° on the Ho-Ni I and between -10 and 20° on the Ho-Ni III.
Note: The values for the reload speed and horizontal/verticle turret traverse speed correspond to a basic crew that has not been levelled up with crew points.
The gun can carry three different types of shells: an APHE shell, an HE shell and a smoke shell, with the APHE shell being the one tankers will be using the most. Able of penetrating up to 102 mm of armour and with 104 g of explosive filler, this shell is more than capable of dealing with most enemies the Ho-Ni will find, and can destroy almost any tank with a single, well-placed shot. By contrast, the HE and smoke shells are used in more specific scenarios. The former works well against vehicles with exposed crew, such as the Marder III or the Archer, while the smoke shell is used to create a smoke screen to hide oneself or one’s allies.
| Name | Shell Type | Penetration at 10 m | Utility |
| Type 1 APHE | APHE | 102 mm | Armoured targets (e.g. tanks). |
| Type 94 HE | HE | 9 mm | Vehicles with exposed crew (e.g. certain SPAAs). |
| Type 90 Smoke | Smoke | N/A | Creates smoke to conceal the tank. |
Usage in Battles:
The Ho-Nis must be used carefully due to their poor armour protection and limited horizontal guidance. Players should adopt a slow and methodical playstyle, utilising stealth to their advantage and avoiding direct confrontations with the enemy, as almost any tank the Ho-Ni faces can destroy it very easily. Using cover from elements in the map, such as rocks or hills, as a hiding spot and picking off enemies one at a time is the safest way to play these SPGs. As mentioned above, the Ho-Ni features excellent gun depression which allows the player to take advantage of said cover. Peeking out of a hill, shooting, and falling back to cover is also an ideal way to play and perform well in this vehicle. The Ho-Ni works best when attacking from the shadows while remaining unseen, thus rewarding patient, careful players.
